Monday, August 08, 2005 � Construction equipment started showing up here about 7:00AM as we were told it would.  I got up made some coffee and decided to start on this journal.  It�s a pleasant morning, and Patty is still asleep.  I admire her ability to sleep like she does.  I mean she sleeps through the noise of trucks coming by us here with our windows open.  When she gets up, we�ll head into Shasta City to buy fuel, which I meant to get in Redding on the way up, but didn�t.  So we�ll back track about 15 minutes for fuel, and then head east again on highway 89 towards Burney Falls.  For the record we paid $3.09 a gallon.

It was only about an hour drive when we arrived at McArthur Burney Falls State Park in the afternoon just to discover we were too large to fit into the camp grounds there.  Nothing beyond 32 foot permitted.  So we headed another 8 miles south on 89, and 7 miles east on 299 to the Pit River where the BLM campground is located.  The Pit River runs into Lake Shasta 60 miles away.  We had discovered this campgrounds by way of conversation on one of the Yahoo Group sites named �Camping Tips�.  It was there on the Internet, I met a lady named Linda.  She had been the camp host for this little campground for a couple of months  but was leaving August 1st.  So we won�t meet her and her husband Earl, but they did give us directions and some information about the place.   This is brand new campground and not well known.  It has only 7 sites.  We pulled in here and got set up in number 4 site.  There were still 3 others empty.  It is a great place with lots of space and privacy and sits right on the Pit River, which is an added treat.  Only $8 a day to camp and � price for seniors.  Burney State Park would have been $20 a night with no hookups available there as well as here.  This is similar to the BLM site we had on the Colorado River in Moab last May.   We spent the day and evening here at the camp site, except for a short drive to visit some outlying areas near here.  We even checked out a couple of RV Parks nearby, and again we�re glad we found this site.  Hat Creek Campgrounds about 10 miles south of here costs $28 a night with hookups.  These type RV parks are usually crowded, cramped in close, and just busyness all around.  I call them RV jails.  RV jails don�t compare with BLM camping.  We don�t need the hookups anyway, and we have so much more room and privacy here.  When we got back we BBQ�d some stuffed pork chops we�d picked up in Shasta City, 
and with some fresh asparagus it was another fine meal.  After dinner we sat back in our recliners for another star show, but both of us fell asleep before dark.  So we just went to bed early and slept until 6:30 the next morning.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005 � I got up, grabbed my fishing gear and headed to the river, leaving Patty in bed.  I got setup, tossed in my line, and wham, fish on!  Here I hadn�t been there with my line in the water but 10 seconds and I caught the largest trout I�d ever caught.  It was between 2 and 3 pounds.  Now I know that isn�t exciting to most folks, but to me it was a major trophy type event.  Anyway, I could hardly continue, I was just shaking, but managed to get my gear back into the water.  So that�s not the end of the story.  I spent the next three hours throwing all my fishing tackle into the river and losing it with each cast.  Not another bite and never pulled out any tackle.  Just bare, broken line.  This drives the price of fish don�t ya know?  That�s how I�m used to fishing anyway.  Now this fish�n business is a damn tough business.  I know not what works for different fish�n conditions.  When I�d stopped in Burney I had also bought some worms.  This not speak�n English so well young man was trying to explain how to rig up for the Pit.  I did that, and caught that fish.  I later am told that was incorrect.  This is what mak�n fish�n so galdern frustr8�n.  Having only been fish�n for a few years now, I kinda kept track of the cost, and I can tell you that before this trip Trout was runn�n about $40 a pound.  By the way speaking of Trout, and more specifically my trophy fish this morning - I didn�t keep him.  It was kinda like catch and release, OK, actually, he left me, but it was after he was landed.  I swear!

Patty came down about 10:30AM, but it was time to get outta there.  I was out of tackle and patience.  Worms are dead, and we�re now ready to head back 13 miles to Burney Falls for a day of hiking.  Before we left we met the new camp host here.  A lady named Rose Schneider.  She must be 75 and staying here by herself.  What a grand lady she is!  Rose is a perfect name for her as she�s a flower lady.  She takes care of Hanna Barberra�s property and plants thousands of flowers there every year.  He�s the creator of the comic strip Yogi Bear, and lives in this area.  After some small talk, we left for the falls.  We parked in the day use area for $5.00, and took the falls loop hike.  The falls are more beautiful than you could imagine!  The pictures don�t do it justice.
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